Hospital Bombing
Imagine you're visiting a loved one in a hospital here in Louisville, and suddenly explosions and screams are all around you. You would be scared and confused and be desperate for answers. Imagine then once you heard who had committed the attack, it was one of your country’s greatest allies. Believed to be a Taliban stronghold, U.S. Forces in Afghanistan called in airstrikes on a hospital owned by international charity organization, Doctors Without Borders. The October 3rd air strikes, fired from U.S. AC-130, reportedly killed twenty-two staff and patients, six being burned to death in the intensive care unit when the hospital was leveled. While many patients were believed to be Taliban, bombing a hospital is against Article 38 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, which was designed to protect civilians in war zones. Doctors Without Borders called out for international investigations, believing that U.S. investigations would not be sufficient. President Obama has come out claiming it was a complete accident and that the families of the deceased would be compensated. Many victims' families believe this will not be enough and that the U.S. must be called on international war crimes.
One of the only defense that the U.S. has is that the hospital was flying a Doctors Without Borders flag, which is not an internationally recognized emblem for aid, but is that a good enough excuse for killing twenty-two people? Expect our great country to be guilty of war crimes.
License: CC0 Public Domain
